The Curious Case of Benjamin Button and Other Jazz Age Stories (69 page)

1
Caesar did the Chicago . . . Vestal Virgins . . . Nervii:
Parodic references to Roman history in which Julius Caesar is envisioned doing a popular dance while the priestesses of the temple “went wild”; dancing to the “Imperial Roman Jazz,” Caesar subdues the “nervy” Nervii, or Germanic tribes colonized by the Roman Empire.

2
Arrow-collar man . . . D'jer-kiss girl . . . smokeless Sante Fé . . . Pebeco smile . . . Lucile style:
References to contemporary advertising slogans such as the modern, “smokeless” Sante Fé Railroad, Arrow shirt collars, and toothpaste.

3
“Evangeline”:
Longfellow's epic poem about the removal of French Acadians from Canada to Louisiana.

4
Walter Scott:
Sir Walter Scott (1771-1832), Scottish novelist and author of historical romances, such as
Ivanhoe
(1820), set in the Middle Ages.

5
Cooper:
James Fenimore Cooper (1789-1851), American writer of historical novels, such as
The Last of the Mohicans
(1826) set in the American frontier.

6
O. Henry:
See note 18 above under “Head and Shoulders.”

7
“The Ballad of Reading Gaol”:
Julie incorrectly attributes this poem by Oscar Wilde (1854-1900) to O. Henry. It was written after Wilde's imprisonment for sodomy—Julie may be confusing the authors because O. Henry also was imprisoned, though for embezzlement, and began to write stories during his incarceration.

8
Bergson:
See note 11 above under “Head and Shoulders.”

9
Man with the Iron Mask:
A reference to Alexandre Dumas' (1802-1870) novel of romance and political intrigue,
The Man in the Iron Mask
(1850).

10
Agamemnon . . . Charlotte Corday stabbed Marat:
The Greek tragic hero Agamemnon was slain in his bath by his wife, Clytemnestra, and her lover; Jean-Paul Marat (1743-1793), a French revolutionary, was slain in his bath by Charlotte Corday, a supporter of the moderate political movement.

11
Shimmies of Normandy:
A pun on the “shimmy,” a popular dance, and “shimmies” with a “C,” or “chemise,” a shirt.

12
Belasco midnight:
A reference to David Belasco (1853-1931), an American playwright and producer known for his exotic productions.

1
Hades:
The name of the Mississippi River town, which is the ancestral home of the Unger family, is also the name for the Greek underworld or land of the dead.

2
St. Midas' School:
Doubtless based on a conflation of Fitzgerald's boyhood schools, St. Paul Academy and Newman, but with ironic reference to the legend of King Midas who turned everything he touched into gold, including his own daughter.

3
Ritz-Carlton Hotel:
The Ritz hotels in Paris, New York, and London (home of the Carlton) are the epitome of luxurious and expensive hostelries.

4
Duvetyn:
A particularly luxurious type of velvet.

5
Crœsus:
Greek ruler of Lydia known for the massive wealth he accrued in trade.

6
Titania:
Queen of the fairies in Shakespeare's
A Midsummer Night's Dream.

7
Gargantua:
The grotesque, gigantic protagonist of François Rabelais's (1483-1553) massive, carnivalesque novels,
Gargantua
and
Pantegruel,
published between 1532 and 1564.

8
Lord Baltimore:
A reference to George Calvert, First Baron of Baltimore (1580?-1632), who was given the land grant by Charles I of England in 1632 for what is now Maryland.

9
El Dorados:
A reference to the mythical land of gold in South America.

10
General Forrest:
Nathan Bedford Forrest (1821-1877), a wealthy businessman and celebrated Civil War general who, after the war, became a leader of the Klu Klux Klan.

11
Pro deo et patria et St. Mida:
Parody of a traditional patriotic epithet, which translates into “For God and country and St. Midas.”

12
Empress Eugénie:
Consort of Napoleon III and Empress of France (1826-1920) from 1853 to 1870; she was known for her extravagances.

13
Prometheus Enriched:
A parodic reference to the Titan from Greek mythology; see note 23 above under “Head and Shoulders.”

1
Methuselah:
Biblical figure who lived for over nine hundred years according to Genesis; hence, a very old person.

2
the Wandering Jew:
Folkloric figure who is condemned to live and wander until the Second Coming of Christ for having ridiculed him on the road to Calvary.

3
“The Boston” . . . the “Maxixe” . . . his “Castle Walk”:
Faddish dances of the day.

2
“The Faerie Queene” by Edmund Spenser . . . Britimartis:
A reference to Spenser's (1552-1599) epic allegory of the English nation. Britomart in
The Faerie Queene
is an Amazonian warrior whose name is based on that of the Cretan goddess, Britomartis.

3
The Rape of Lucrece:
This reference to an early work of Shakespeare identifies him as the rapist in Fitzgerald's strange tale; Shakespeare's poem recounts the story of Lucretia who is raped by the son of the Roman king Tarquin and subsequently commits suicide.

1
early novels of H. G. Wells:
Herbert George Wells (1866-1946), a prolific author of novels, essays, and fantasies, best known for early novels such as
The Invisible Man, The Time Machine,
and
The War of the Worlds.

2
Great Federal Government:
A reference to the constitutional prohibition against the consumption of alcoholic beverages.

3
a telephone girl:
A receptionist.

4
floorwalker:
The manager of a department in a department store.

5
Sacré nom de Dieu:
A mildly blasphemous expression; translated it means “sacred name of God.”

6
“Adam-and-Eve” Bryan ran against William McKinley:
A reference to the presidential election of 1900 in which William Jennings Bryan, the Democratic nominee and an avowed anti-Darwinist and antievolutionist, was soundly defeated by the incumbent, William McKinley.

7
landaulet:
An open carriage.

8
Bolshevism:
See note 5 above under “May Day.”

1
Richard Harding Davis . . . Frank Norris:
Davis (1864 -1916), an American author and reporter, whose stories of a newsboy-detective gained great popularity. Norris (1870-1902), an American novelist and leading exponent of literary naturalism, which combined realism with a belief in the fateful machinations of the natural world; his most important works include
The Octopus
(1901),
McTeague
(1902), and
The Pit
(1903).

2
whether the Japs had taken Port Arthur:
A reference to the Russo-Japanese War (1904-1905) and to the Japanese defeat of the Russians at Port Arthur in Manchuria.

3
Château Thierry:
See note 3 above under “Head and Shoulders.”

4
days of “Florodora” and of sextets:
See note 8 above under “Head and Shoulders.”

5
Gibson girl:
A reference to the fashionable woman of the 1890s who was tightly corseted and wore shirtwaist blouses and bell-shaped skirts.

6
Lillian Russell and Stella Mayhew and Anna Held:
Popular actresses and songsters of the Gay Nineties.

1
Sir Walter Raleigh:
Elizabethan courtier and adventurer (c. 1554 -1618) who, among other things, brought tobacco from the New World to Europe and conducted a failed expedition to find El Dorado in South America (see note 9 above under “The Diamond as Big as the Ritz”).

2
Gloria Swanson:
Silent film star (1898-1983) who starred in several De-Mille vehicles and who made a comeback as an aging diva in
Sunset Boulevard.

3
Nero . . . John Drinkwater:
Nero, the decadent emperor who ruled Rome from AD 54 to 68, was said to have fiddled while Rome burned; he, of course, did not say, “With malice toward none, with charity toward all,” nor did Drinkwater (1882-1937), the English poet and author of a historical verse play about Abraham Lincoln, who did say it in his Second Inaugural Address.

4
Jack Dempsey:
Famous heavyweight champion (1895-1983) known for his tough and aggressive boxing style.

5
“Conrad” . . . “Two Years Before the Mast,” by Henry James . . . Walter Pater's version of “Robinson Crusoe”:
Fitzgerald deliberately skews authors and works in this parody of authors and citations. Joseph Conrad is an author, not a literary work; Richard Henry Dana is the author of
Two Years Before the Mast,
not Henry James; the reference to a version of
Robinson Crusoe
by the late Victorian essayist and aesthetician Walter Pater is nonsensical.

6
McCormick harvesters:
McCormick is a well-known maker of agricultural machinery.

7
Oh, for the glands of a Bismarck:
Otto von Bismarck (1815-1898) was the “Iron Chancellor” of Germany during the reunification in the latter part of the nineteenth century; the reference is to his Prussian strength and toughness.

8
Wordsworth:
The lines attributed to the English Romantic poet William Wordsworth (1770-1850) parody one of his “Lucy” poems, “A Slumber Did My Spirit Seal.”

9
Piccadilly Circus:
Not, at all, a “circus” as the chorus implies, but a famous London shopping and entertainment district and crossroads.